Online banking is essentially a service that simply offers you the opportunity to manage you bank on the internet, be this for just checking your account balance to actually carrying out an online transaction. It is however unnecessary that you have an online bank account to use a debit or credit card and both this can still be used to make online purchases to great avail. It is also possible to use your phone to call/text (sms) your bank, so it can be handled no mater where you’re located, and many banks now days have secure applications available to be used on phones meeting the essential requirements.
There are however flaws when using online banking services such as fraud, yet the main issue gained with the use of online banking is phishing. This incorporates the use of fake deals and scams on the internet in order to capture the victims personal details , such as all there bank details and then they can proceed to withdraw money ect. The key to the success of this criminal offence is the trust they obtain from their victims on order to convince them to subscribe to their scams.
Therefore this means that security is essential within online banking and it must be maintained at the highest standards and one of the key entrepreneurs of online banking security is paypal, not only do they run on a https server ( hyper transfer text protocol secure) which means they are nearly impossible to hack but they ensure that none of your details are released to any third parties or even the buyer/seller your interacting with.
As a result of the significant rise in online banking all of the main high street banks have since began running offering online services. As they are the main banks and therefore store online money (credit) and various details about many of there users, it is a must that the security is impenetrable and this is contrived in many ways. The first of these is once again the https (https://olb2.nationet.com/AppServices/SignOn/SignOnProcess/Default.aspx?ID=35) on which their online site is run, this again ensures that no one online can gain access to what you are doing. When signing into your account and carrying out transactions, the data sent between your computer and nationwide is then encrypted, this scrambles all the information so that it can only be deciphered by the nationwide security centre, thus hackers cannot witness the information you are sending to the bank. When signing up to the bank there are also various steps that ensure it is in fact you that are using the site to gain access to the bank and not anyone else , the first of theses methods is the distribution of customer numbers, and this is the number they give to you when you when you register with their service. They then proceed to demand memorable data, which is a memorable date, a memorable place and a memorable name personal to you that you denote on first signing up with the bank. The final area of information they require is your pass number , they only ask for three random digits from your pass number for you to sign in and Your pass number will be sent to you after you have registered. It will be a random six digit number generated by Nationwide.
There are also solely online banking services which don’t own a high street chain. The main example of this is the egg bank company. Although they work on a near identical service to other online banking services with the essential basics such as being able to check your balance online , but you cannot physically put money into your bank via cash or cheque , and it can in fact only receive payments from places of work using the bank details much like any other bank and money can therefore only be inputted into your account with the use of card , and as many people still neglect online banking through the unorthodox fear of the hackers and phishers online.
Overall I believe online banking to be a success as it enables people to check their balance without going to the actual physical building as long as they have assured access to an internet connection. There will still be issues with security and fraud but as long as you only enter your details in registered websites and don’t all victim to the fairly blatant attempts of a phisher, your details will remain safe thus ensuring your bank remains safe.
